The Strawberry Difference

The Strawberry Difference

And the tough decisions of an organic farmer.

Perhaps you have noticed a difference in our strawberries this year.  Not just that they have come in earlier and that we have more of them.  But, also that they are larger, firmer and store longer. 

What is the difference?

When I started B & H I immediately knew I wanted to plant strawberries.  I had always known that strawberries were a perennial crop (meaning they grow year after year).  And of course you plant them in straw for which they are named.  So I planted my first small row and for 4 years I saved the runners and planted new rows.  I mulched with straw and picked the berries.  However, last year the berries were full of weeds, they were small and seemed to rot within a few days of picking.  Picking them was so tedious and labor intensive.  I decided I would not weed those rows anymore and in the fall I tilled in the whole patch.

And when I went to a conference on strawberry production this past winter I realized that I had 5 different diseases in my strawberry patch and 3 different insect infestations.  No wonder I wasn’t getting any production. 

I have seen annual production of strawberries on other farms and read about them before.  But the idea of planting a new patch of strawberries each season seemed like a waste and it seemed “inorganic” to me.  But, I was desperate. 

So last fall we planted 5 rows of new plants onto plastic and covered them with row cover for the winter.  And now this spring we have beautiful plants producing large quantities of flavorful berries. 

The difference is that the new plants came with very little disease and so we got a fresh start.  Also, we planted on plastic instead of using straw mulch.  This kept the weeds down kept the berries clean and gave us an earlier picking time because the plastic was black.  The row cover protected the plants from the cold winter just as the straw would have.  So the short story is that in order to grow organic disease free strawberries you have to use non-organic materials such as plastic mulch and row cover.  And because you have to plant each year you are doing more tillage.  There is a serious compromise to be made.

The alternative though is to have commercially produced strawberries, which are heavily sprayed, and the soil is fumigated before planting.  Strawberries are very susceptible to diseases and therefore they are the most heavily sprayed crop in the industry.  Here is a great article on strawberries and chemical contamination http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/food-and-health/food-and-drink/safety/strawberries.aspx.

So for now I will stick with my annual method and provide beautiful tasty berries, which you can feel good about eating and sharing with your children. 

Tip for preserving berries:

Wash them with vinegar. When you get
your berries home, prepare a mixture of one part vinegar (white or apple cider
probably work best) and ten parts water.  Dump the berries into the mixture
and swirl around. Drain, rinse if you want (though the mixture is so diluted you
can't taste the vinegar,) and pop in the fridge.  The vinegar kills
any mold spores and other bacteria that might be on the surface of the fruit,
and voila!  Raspberries will last a week or more, and strawberries go
almost two weeks without getting moldy and soft.  So go forth and stock up
on those pricey little gems, knowing they'll stay fresh as long as it takes you
to eat them.